We have some exciting new offerings for this year’s merchandise. Samples of the merchandise will be on display at this week’s practices at Canterbury. Orders will be taken by your team manager until November 17, 2013 with the expectation that the merchandise will be received prior to Christmas.

Skate-A-Thon Fundraiser

When I last wrote, I didn’t have the final fundraising tally from our inaugural Skate-A-Thon fundraiser. I’m pleased to report that we raised a total of $7,680. After taking out some relatively small expenses for T-shirts and flyers we ended up with net fundraising of $6,984.56. Of that total, we made a $2,500 contribution to our partner Autism Speaks! That left nearly $4,500 available for scholarships for our members in need. These results exceeded even our most optimistic expectations, but, more importantly, our families had a great time! I think it’s safe to say that we now have an annual season “kick off” event to look forward to every year. Although it’s preliminary, mark your calendars for the Sunday before Labor Day (August 31, 2014)!

In House Program Begins

We’re off to a fast start with our in house program. The Mite Cross Ice League is well underway and the Intro to Hockey program began with over 30 participants at the Canterbury rink. The Gunnery programs begins in about 2 weeks. There is still time to register for our Learn to Skate and Intro to Hockey programs at the Gunnery. Our Limited Travel Squirt team will also hit the ice for the first time in about 2 weeks.

Try Hockey for Free

The past Saturday marked the second time that Northwestern Hockey participated in USA Hockey’s nationwide promotion called Try Hockey for Free Day. We had 17 skaters sign up this year, compared to 7 last year. By the number of smiles out there on the ice, a lot of fun was had by all! If you know someone that would like to try hockey, please suggest that they contact me.